HOUSE of Assembly Speaker Themba Msibi is expected to address His Majesty King Mswati III during the official opening of Parliament tomorrow.

This follows that Senate President Gelane Zwane is currently bereaved, as her husband Mike Zwane passed away last week.

Yesterday, during Parliament opening rehearsals, Msibi was the one addressing Assistant Clerk at Table Mathokoza Dlamini, who was acting as the King.

Msibi could not come clean on whether he would officiate during the opening of the fifth session of the 10th Parliament or not. He said it was true that he was the one addressing the King during the rehearsals yesterday, but that did not mean he would surely be the one addressing the King tomorrow.

Implementing

“No one is sure about the Friday you are talking about because we do not know what will be happening. What I know is that I will be implementing the task placed before me when the Senate president is not there,” Msibi said.

The speaker was further quizzed on Section 101 (2) of the Constitution, which says: “The deputy president shall perform the functions of the president, whenever the president is absent or is for any reason unable to perform the functions of that office or when the president authorises the deputy to do so.”

Maintained

He said Parliament tomorrow will be constituted into a joint sitting, meaning both MPs and Senators will be sitting in the House, listening to the Speech from the Throne.

He was of the view that it would be illogical for a presiding officer not to officiate during a Joint House sitting.

However, he still maintained that he was not sure whether he would be the one delivering the speech or not, he would only be sure during the Parliament opening.

Zombodze Emuva MP Titus Thwala also clarified that during such incidents, the speaker would be the one mandated with the task of delivering a speech to welcome the King. Thwala said a joint sitting was co-presided over by the Senate president and the speaker. When one of the presiding officers was not available, the other would preside over the sitting.

The Zombodze Emuva legislator further stated that the deputy Senate president or the deputy speaker would only be in a position to preside on the joint sitting if both presiding officers were not available.